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The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is Canada's national resource for the advancement of workplace health and safety. CCOHS promotes the total well-being - physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working Canadians by providing information, training, education, and management systems and solutions that support workplace health and safety and the prevention of occupational injury and illness.
As Minister of Labour, I am proud to present the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's (CCOHS) Report on Plans and Priorities for 2015-2016.
CCOHS was created to provide reliable and practical occupational health and safety information to assist employers and employees in Canada to be productive, healthy and safe at work. CCOHS is renowned as a leader in providing innovative and authoritative workplace health and safety solutions. For 36 years, the Centre has partnered and collaborated with agencies and organizations from across Canada and around the world to improve the quality and quantity of resources and programs, as well as expand the breadth of usage to many different segments of society.
At the heart of CCOHS' work is the fundamental right of all Canadians to a healthy and safe workplace. And we each have a role to play to make it happen. Together, we can help create a Canada in which people can perform their jobs, secure in the knowledge that they are safe from work-related illness, injury and harm.
The Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, P.C., O.Ont., M.P.
Minister of Labour and
Minister of Status of Women
As a leader in the advancement of occupational health and safety, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) remains committed to our mission to address the needs of all working people in Canada. We continue to strive to expand our outreach, user population and impact on Canadian workplaces and provide accessible health and safety information, education and tools to advance the total well-being of workers. We will seek to cultivate new collaborative partnerships, and strengthen existing relationships.
There is an effort underway that will continue into the next year, to upgrade our internal infrastructures and improve processes to achieve greater efficiencies and improve the delivery of our services.
We are leveraging the use of technology to provide innovative solutions that will increase our breadth of service offerings, including developing mobile apps to help workers assess risks.
CCOHS will continue our work to advance and address the issues of psychological health and safety in the workplace, and meet the needs of the most vulnerable segments of our society - young workers, migrant workers - by providing a wide range of essential, credible information, resources and education.
I am confident that we will remain a leading workplace health and safety organization by staying focused on our shared vision of success, helping working people across the country and leveraging our collective occupational health and safety experience to provide viable solutions to meet the challenges of the changing world of work.
Steve Horvath
President and Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
Appropriate Minister: The Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, PC, O.Ont., M.P. – Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women
Institutional Head: Steve Horvath, President and Chief Executive Officer
Ministerial Portfolio: Employment and Social Development Canada, Labour Program
Enabling Instrument(s): Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act
Year of Incorporation / Commencement: 1978
Raison d’être
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) was founded by an Act of Parliament in 1978 with a mandate to promote health and safety in the workplace and to enhance the physical and mental health of working Canadians.
CCOHS operates under the legislative authority of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act S.C., 1977-78, c. 29 which was passed by unanimous vote in the Canadian Parliament. The purpose of this Act is to promote the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment by creating a national institute (CCOHS) concerned with the study, encouragement and co-operative advancement of occupational health and safety.
CCOHS functions as an independent departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour. Its funding is derived from a combination of appropriations, cost recoveries and collaboration with the provinces. It is expected that a portion of the budget will be funded through cost recoveries from the creation, production, and worldwide sales of fee-for-service and revenue generating occupational health and safety products and services.
Responsibilities
As Canada's national occupational health and safety resource, CCOHS is dedicated to the advancement of workplace health and safety. We do this by providing information and knowledge transfer services; training and education; cost-effective tools for improving occupational health and safety performance; management systems services supporting health and safety programs; injury and illness prevention initiatives and promoting the total well-being – physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working people.
CCOHS is a recognized leader in providing effective programs, products and services, which are based on the centre's core knowledge, collection of occupational health and safety information, and application of information management technologies.
CCOHS is governed by a tripartite council representing governments (federal, provincial and territorial), employers, and labour organizations. The Council of Governors assists in overseeing a policy framework for a trustworthy and complete occupational health and safety service, and ensures that the information CCOHS disseminates is unbiased. Our key stakeholders are directly involved in the policy, governance and strategic planning for the organization. They also assist with reviews of programs and services to help ensure that our information is impartial and relevant. Our inquiries service is supported and funded from contributions provided by provincial and territorial governments.
CCOHS has a broad range of collaborative arrangements with many national and international health and safety organizations. These include the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and Health Canada. Further information on the many partnerships is available at www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html and in our annual report.
Collaborative projects serve many purposes at CCOHS. They are opportunities to enhance our occupational health and safety information resources, generate revenues and collaborate with partners worldwide to access and share global perspectives. This collaboration among nations serves to promote the sharing of information and knowledge for social and economic programs relating to health and safety, reduce injuries and illness, and improve conditions for workers. They also contribute to Canada's leadership role in the world and bring the wealth of global occupational health and safety information for use by CCOHS to improve the health and safety of working people in Canada.
Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Alignment Architecture
Strategic Outcome: Improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well-being of working Canadians.
Program: Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration.
Internal Services
Organizational Priorities
1Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to the subject year of the report; ongoing - committed to at least three fiscal years prior to the subject year of the report; and new - newly committed to in the reporting year of the RPP or DPR.
2Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to the subject year of the report; ongoing - committed to at least three fiscal years prior to the subject year of the report; and new - newly committed to in the reporting year of the RPP or DPR.
3Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to the subject year of the report; ongoing - committed to at least three fiscal years prior to the subject year of the report; and new - newly committed to in the reporting year of the RPP or DPR.
Risk Analysis
Key Risks
CCOHS relies heavily on cost recovery programs and contributions from partners to supplement its parliamentary appropriations and cover fixed costs. The CCOHS funding model is based upon 50% of our operating budget being generated through cost recovery and our products and services must be continually updated to be marketable. Changes to our partners’ funding can have a direct impact on our revenues and our ability to deliver our products and services to Canadians. CCOHS is proactively managing this risk by improving its cost recovery program. The program focuses on three main elements. First, we are rationalizing the product inventory to improve focus on the products that our stakeholders demand. Next, we are reviewing the pricing and marketing models for those products to ensure that we are reaching more Canadian workplaces and receiving fair market value for our products. Finally, we are reviewing and revising the commercial agreements with our suppliers in order to help reduce the cost of the operation.
The organization also faces the risk that technological advances have rendered traditional delivery methods for its content unsustainable and out-dated. CCOHS has responded by expanding its on-line resources to include more specialized web portals, e-learning programs, webinars, podcasts, Facebook and Twitter promotion and on-line discussion groups. We continue to develop mobile apps to help workers assess hazards and risks. These new channels are key to supporting our priority to expand our reach and impact of Canadians on a daily basis. CCOHS is investing in the technology required to support these new communication channels and is challenged to do so with a very limited operating budget.
CCOHS’ funding remains consistent from year to year other than increases for compensation. There have been no increases in funding for compensation in the past two years due to cost containment measures. Fluctuations in funding are primarily due to carry forward amounts and recovery of paylist shortfall amounts for severance pay, parental leave benefits, etc. Spending is impacted by the ability to raise revenues to cover the un-funded portion of the budget.
Departmental Spending Trend Graph
For the years 2012-13 and 2013-14, the total spending includes all Parliamentary appropriations and revenue sources including Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates, respendable revenues and operating budget carry forwards. For the 2014-15 through 2017-18 periods, total spending corresponds to planned spending only as adjustments are unknown.
For information on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s organizational appropriations, consult the 2015–16 Main Estimates on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat website.
Description
The goal of this public service program is to provide free information on occupational health and safety to support Canadians in their efforts to work safely and create healthy and safe workplaces. Citizens are provided information through a free and impartial personalized service via telephone, e-mail, person-to-person, fax or mail. Alternatively, they can independently access a broad range of electronic and print resources developed to support safety and health information needs of Canadians. This may include cost recovery products and services and is supported financially by contributions from various stakeholders.
Through health and safety information development, CCOHS collects, processes, evaluates, creates and publishes authoritative information resources on occupational health and safety for the benefit of all working Canadians. This information is used for education and training, research, development of policy and best practices, improvement of health and safety programs, achieving compliance, and for personal use. When the product or service provided by CCOHS is offered to identifiable external recipients with benefits beyond those enjoyed by the general public, the product or service becomes part of the cost-recovery program and a fee is charged.
CCOHS promotes and facilitates consultation and cooperation among federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions and participation by labour, management and other stakeholders in the establishment and maintenance of high standards and occupational health and safety initiatives for the Canadian context. The sharing of resources results in the coordinated and mutually beneficial development of unique programs, products and services. Collaborative projects are usually supported with a combination of financial and non-financial contributions to the programs by partners and stakeholders and result in advancement of the health and safety initiatives.
Planning Highlights
In order to achieve the expected results, CCOHS plans to undertake the following activities:
Description
Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. Internal services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization, and not those provided to a specific program. The groups of activities are Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.
Planning Highlights
Internal Services at CCOHS continues to focus on its three main goals:
We continue to sharpen our focus on the cost recovery program in order to support the strategic outcome of the organization. A successful cost recovery program is key to ensuring the sustainability of CCOHS operations.
We are also committed to improve the overall working experience at CCOHS. This includes improving the performance management system, fostering open communications and consistent and equal treatment of staff across the organization.
We will continue to refresh our Information Technology (IT) infrastructure to ensure we continue to meet ongoing needs of CCOHS stakeholders.
The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides a general overview of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s (CCOHS) operations. The forecast of financial information on expenses and revenues is prepared on an accrual accounting basis to strengthen accountability and to improve transparency and financial management.
Because the future-oriented condensed statement of operations is prepared on an accrual accounting basis, and the forecast and planned spending amounts presented in other sections of the Report on Plans and Priorities are prepared on an expenditure basis, amounts differ.
A more detailed future-oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, can be found on CCOHS’ website.
CCOHS continues its focus on cost containment and expects a reduction in total expenses in the coming fiscal period. Revenue projections are flat subject to the funding risks from our partners.
The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures annually in the Tax Expenditures and Evaluations publication. The tax measures presented in the Tax Expenditures and Evaluations publication are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.
Frank Leduc
Vice-President Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
135 Hunter Street East
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 1M5
Canada
Telephone : (905) 572-2981 Extension 4401